Epa To Do More Tests At Old Landfill Site

November 30, 1994|By MARYELLEN FILLO; Courant Correspondent

SOUTHINGTON — By the end of the week, the Environmental Protection Agency expects to have some idea whether methane gas from a Superfund site on Old Turnpike Road has seeped into other parts of the neighborhood.

Bowing to pressure from residents who live near the site of the former landfill, the EPA has sent crews back to the contaminated area to check methane gas levels at surrounding sites.

``It's what the residents wanted, and it was a request supported by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry,'' said Almerinda Silva, EPA project manager for the cleanup project.

``We expect to test intermittently for the next year, but anticipate we will have a `snapshot' of the surrounding sites and if there has been any methane gas migration.''

The first test results are expected to be available by Friday, Silva said.

The former landfill, used for municipal and industrial wastes until 1967, was deemed contaminated with toxic chemicals and designated as a Superfund site, making it eligible for cleanup funds as one of the worst toxic waste sites nationwide.

Since then, the EPA has determined that the site should be capped and the methane gas collected at an estimated cost of $16 million. The expense will be shared by former site users, including the town of Southington, Pratt & Whitney and General Electric.

Silva said the additional testing, which is expected to cost just a few thousand dollars more, involves installing probes north and east of the former dump and along utilities under Rejean Road and Old Turnpike Road. The installation began Tuesday after bad weather delayed work scheduled for Monday.

The probes will measure any residual methane gas that may have seeped from the landfill site.

``We'll be doing monthly tests for a year or so,'' Silva said, ``and then determine if the testing should continue.''

Some town officials have said the additional testing and expense are unnecessary, but Terry Delahunty, president of the citizens' watchdog group Southington Old Landfill Victims, called the measures reassuring.

``We don't know for sure whether that gas has leaked into other areas and want to know for sure,'' said Delahunty, who lives near the old landfill. ``This whole thing has been very scary for residents here. We want the additional safeguard.''